Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa has opened its second restaurant in Raffles City Singapore, capitalising on the success of its first restaurant at Shaw Centre.
The new restaurant is nestled on basement one of RCS, adding to the plethora of food options there. With a seating capacity of 84, the location can cater for groups of all sizes, perfect for business lunches or family meals. I particularly liked the natural wood finishes, which gave the restaurant a sophisticated vibe. Sitting at the heart of the restaurant is a live-grilling station, but more on that later.
The craft behind Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa
Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa prides itself on these three pillars: the high quality of their eels, masterful cooking technique, and freshness in terms of preparation. As an eel supplier with 94 years of experience, they have honed the expertise to pick out the best quality eels for kabayaki. Kabayaki is the cooking technique where fish (or most famously eels) are butterflied, deboned, skewered, brushed with a sweet, savoury soy-based glaze called tare, and grilled.
At Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa, the eels are grilled over binchotan charcoal and glazed with its house-made tare. Binchotan charcoal burns at a high, consistent temperature with minimal smoke, creating an intense heat that crisps the eel’s skin while locking in its juices.
Each eel is also kept live on the premises, as we saw on the kitchen tour, and is only prepared once ordered.
To celebrate its opening, the restaurant has crafted a speciality named the Unagi Mountain ($88), available only at its RCS restaurant from 1 – 31 October 2026. This costs almost twice as much as its Kabayaki Ippon Jyu Set ($48), but for good reason: it features two whole kabayaki unagi (yes, two!).
This works out to four pieces of unagi, placed vertically atop a bed of rice. Calling it a mountain was no exaggeration: my dining companion and I agreed that this dish could be shared among two to three diners.
It was, in every sense, at the pinnacle of taste and texture. The sweet and savoury tare hits first, followed by the fresh, succulent eel meat and its rich fat — the same fat that carries vitamins A and D, so there’s a little nutritional upside to all that indulgence.
Lastly comes the crunch from the perfectly crispy skin. Complementing the dish is a side of pickled radish, which helps balance the richness of the eel.
Another familiar favourite is the Hitsumabushi set ($37), a Nagoya speciality. Here, the eel is sliced before being layered on rice. It is served with three condiments on the side: wasabi, seaweed and spring onions, as well as a light dashi (broth).
Diners can choose to enjoy the dish as is, with the condiments, or as ochazuke by adding the broth to the rice and eel. We tried all three methods, and our favourite was having it with condiments. The seaweed added umami, the wasabi added a slight kick, and the spring onions added freshness.
While having it as ochazuke was novel, we found that it was hard to pick up the rice with chopsticks once the broth was added. Feel free to ask the friendly service staff for a spoon if this happens!
There were other items firmly on our list for a return visit: the braised eel liver, available only in limited quantities, and the deep-fried eel kabuto.
Final Thoughts
Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa backs up its three pillars with real craftsmanship: the eels are top quality, the binchotan grilling gives the kabayaki its signature crisp-skinned char, and keeping everything live until it’s ordered shows in how fresh the meat tastes.
The Unagi Mountain is worth planning a visit around before it leaves the menu at the end of October 2026 — just bring a dining partner or two to share it with. The Hitsumabushi set is a great way to try the eel a few different ways in one sitting. It isn’t cheap and is better suited to a special occasion than a casual meal.
With Raffles City sitting in the Civic District, a short walk from the National Museum Singapore and National Gallery, it makes for an easy way to turn a family museum visit into a full day out.
Unagi Kondaime Kikukawa
Where: 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-75, Singapore 179103
Operating Hours: Open daily from 11:30am – 10:00pm (Last Order 9:00pm)
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